Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-08
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO.
Los Angeles and San Ber-
nardinO Counties i'm '73.
TRAVEL IN THOSE DAYS.
The Southern Part of Los Angeles
COunty-Riverside-Great
Changes.

in the southern counties even during
the past five or six years have been
mighty, but they are nothing to those
which have been noted by anyone
whose memory goes back seven or
eight years further. The writer first
saw Los Angeles in April, 1873. He
reached this city from San Diego
which, although not the most popul-
Gus, was by far the more bustling place
of the two. The city of the Angels then
looked as if it might contain five or
six thousand people. Compton and
Florence were then just being
talked of, and only a few
homes interposed between Will
mington and Los Angeles, notably
the Banning and old Dominguez home
steads. 1t was at the latter place, one
of the old Southern California land
marks, that the writer first saw an or
ange tree. When the city line was
reached the orange groves and Vine
y ldD bCNdiiiC NCI llulllClouS, dIll I'LL
pressed him with their beauty and
freshness. The only railway then in
Los Angeles county was the present
Wilmington branch of the Southern
Pacific, which was then under the
control of General Banning, and which
was bought by the people and given
to the great California railway mag
mates on condition of their
building their road to Los An
geles, a money subsidy being
added which brought the whole gift
up to $3.50 900, or ten per cent of the
assessed value of the county. There is
a decided difference between that
modest assement and that of ninety
five million dollars recently made BY
County Assessor Mason. An advance
of nearly thirteen hundred per cent in
fourteen years is pretty good showing
even for a "boom" region, the increase
being within a fraction of nearly one
hundred per cent. per annum. And
yet even Angeleflos during that period
have been known to buy lottery
tickets.
WHAT Los ANGELES LOOKED LIKE.
At that time there were precious
few modern-looking buildings in this
city. The Temple and Downey blocks
had just been erected, and 'dobe
houses and stores abounded. on every
hand. Amongst the former, the old
Stearns mansion, where the Baker
block now stands, was an historic
edifice. Mr.. A. f. Hinchman, as the
agent of the estate of old John Tenn
pie, had a short time before sold out
property which could IOt be bought
now for two million dollars for fifteen
thousand. He did this to invest the
money to greater advantage in San
Diego. The speculation proved to be
disastrous one. There were few
elegant residences on Fort street, in
cluding the Eugene Meyer and j. M.
Griffith places, and the c. w. Childs
and John G. Downey homesteads ON
Main street. Bellevue terrace had
been partially built up, but there was
scarcely half-a-dozen houses
on the present most thickly
populated street.
j. w. Potts and Prudent Beaudry
were then grading big hill down into
Temple street populated portions of
the hill lands. There was then, as
now, a great number of exquisite gar
dens in Los Angeles, one of the most
noted of which was in front of Mrs.
Ogier's cottage, on Fort street. There
was no West Los Angeles. BOYLE and
Brooklyn heights were confined to the
residences of Mr.. w. IL. Workman
and perhaps few others. There was
only one residence in East Los An
geles, and that was the property of
DR.. Griffin, who had just concluded to
put his East Los Angeles real estate
on the market and had cut it up into
lots for that purpose.
Take the city as a whole, and it was
very provincial and sleepy looking
town fourteen years ago, giving very
little promise of its present push and
energy.
TRAVEL IN THOSE DAYS.
The only method of getting any
where in those days was by steamer
or stage. The Southern Pacific Rail
way managers were just starting out
with their superb system, which gave
Los Angeles ultimately not only rail-
way connection with San Francisco
but with New Orleans and the whole
eastern side of the continent. The
steamers between Wilmington and
San Francisco ran only about once a
week, and to reach San Francisco by
stage was laborious undertaking.
The writer took trip by stage to San
Bernardino. A companion and him
self were the only passengers up and
down. To-day about thirty-three trains,
freight and passenger, run between
Cotton and Los Angeles. The stages
stopped at Billy Robottom s,at Spadra,
for meals. One or two houses. in
Guiding Chino Phillips, were the
only dwellings in that neighborhood.
The only thing to make the flourish
ing city of Pomona was the Palomares
homestead, and no other sign of habi-
tation was encountered until the
famous Cucamonga vineyard was
reached. A few months before we
passed that way great blizzard had
come up through a funnel-like spot in
the Cucamonga mountains, and cut
the ground off as clean as whistle
lOT u Wltc BWdtllC dCiOoo lJidlh,
and in some places to a depth of
several feet, as the veracious stage
driver assured us. He also said that
the soil had drifted to depth of ten
or twelve feet over the top of the barn.
Strangely enough the sirocco stopped
just short of the line of the Cucamonga
vineyard.
HOW SOME PLACES HAVE GROWN IN
FOURTEEN YEARS.
At that time DIR. Griffin had Just
sold half of his San Pascual ranch to
the Indiana colony for $6 an acre, and
only a few of the pioneer settlers were
on the ground. The Lake Vineyard
tract had not been heard of, and all
the prosperous settlements that now
ornament the foothills were still ges-
tsting in the womb of time. San Ber-